July 25th

“It is better to take refuge in the LORD
   than to put confidence in mortals.
It is better to take refuge in the LORD
   than to put confidence in princes.” Psalm 118:8-9

it is a shell game for
all those thimbleriggers in power,
as they place a distraction under
one of the social media posts
in the night, uploading them
so rapidly we never notice
they have snatched it away
and we are left with
another empty feeling.
the barnums of the world
know the truth of one being
born every minute, as we
cause their coins, sneakers,
perfumes, cameras, and
sketchy scriptures to fly off
the virtual shelves, while
stuffing their bank accounts.
and all the while you simply
offer a hand which
ill never let us go and
a heart which will never
stop loving us.

© 2026 Thom M. Shuman

Venmo: @Thom-Shuman

July 24th

"This is the reason that I have so often been hindered from coming to you." Romans 15:22

we sit around hard tables
in chairs getting more uncomfortable
that we rush out of the place
never noticing you and the folks
with the towels, mops, bins
waiting to clean up the mess
we manage to leave behind.
we sit in our easy chairs
looking through those yearbooks
which carry the memories of all
those good old days, which were good
because we didn't have to make
any of the hard life-changing decisions
and so do not see you standing
on the sidewalk, pack on your back,
walking stick in your hand, and a
gleam in your eye, as you hope
to lead the way to even better days
than we could ever begin to imagine
as we sit wrapped in the past.

(c) Thom M. Shuman

Venmo: @Thom-Shuman

July 23rd

“Transgression speaks to the wicked
    deep in their hearts;
there is no fear of God
    before their eyes." Psalm 36:1

they look at us,
a hunger in their eyes
for our adulation and
chants of their name,
of wanting to see us
waving our hands in worship
and a bending of our knees
in abject loyalty to them,
or a recognition that their
words overflowing with
hollow promises fill that
void in our shriveled lives
and their winks, nods, and
finger pointing our way
show a deep affinity with us,
a relationship which is abiding
beyond all words.
but
when we look deeply
into their eyes, all we glimpse
is that deadness of souls which
have shriveled because of
the contempt and distrust they
truly have for every single person
who is not them.

(c) Thom M. Shuman

Venmo: @Thom-Shuman

July 22nd

"And there, in the presence of the Israelites, Joshua wrote on the stones a copy of the law of Moses, which he had written." Joshua 8:32

sorry, Josh, but
we need to borrow the stone
which warns about having
any other Gods, to put under
the chair of our political choice,
and that one about honoring
our parents and their generation
we will place in their way so they
can stumble all over the place
proving we are right that folks
who are of a certain age are useless,
and those ones about not
telling falsehoods, or killing, no
cheating on those we swear to love,
and not being jealous of what others own,
well, gosh, they have just gone
out of style as far as we are concerned.
and just like that, your hopeful reminders
are ground into gravel we can walk
over on our way to foolishness
beyond imagination.

(c) Thom M. Shuman

Venmo: @Thom-Shuman

July 21st

“Why do you pass judgment on your brother or sister? Or you, why do you despise your brother or sister? For we will all stand before the judgment seat of God.” Romans 14:10

do you ever shake your head,
drop it into your hands, and
mutter to yourself,
“how long? how long?”
for no matter who you send,
no matter who shares your words,
nor how often you repeat yourself,
we remain stubbornly insistent
that not only do we
get to judge others, and not you,
but we get to set the standards
as to who, how, and why
others around us are judged.
maybe that is why you are willing
to patiently wait, until we step
into your living room at the end of time,
just to see the look on our faces
when we see all those losers,
those deplorables, those prats,
curled up next to you on the couch,
eating the cookies you just
took out of the oven.

© 2026 Thom M. Shuman

Venmo: @Thom-Shuman

July 20th

“Love does no wrong to a neighbor; therefore, love is the fulfilling of the law.” Romans 13:10

not waiting for a committee report
or a vote of confidence,
love crosses every street
we have been told to avoid,
stepping onto those porches
and knocking on the doors
we teach ourselves to fear.
despite every voice demanding
we choose sides and not neighbors,
you whisper a different approach—
offering a heart before hearing a word,
healing wounds instead of arguing,
seeing your sibling in God, not a label.
when love is that quiet courage
to refuse harming simply to harm,
to put more chairs at the table,
to tear down walls to build wells,
then the law is fulfilled.
for when every barrier is removed,
every act of mercy replaces meanness,
then newcomers and old-timers
remember they all live
in the same neighborhood
found in God’s heart.

(c) 2026 Thom M. Shuman

Venmo: @Thom-Shuman

July 19th

"So the people shouted, and the trumpets were blown. As soon as the people heard the sound of the trumpets, they raised a great shout, and the wall fell down flat;" Joshua 6:20

if only it was
as easy shouting
to bring down the walls
of division and discord.
if only all it took
was the world singing
to give peace a chance.
if only it was as simple
as marching in the
light of God to end
all hatred and oppression.
if only we had to pick up
our trumpets to turn
our communities into havens
of hospitality towards all,
of healing for the broken,
of kindness offered to
the forgotten and the vulnerable.
if only . . .

(c) Thom M. Shuman

Venmo: @Thom-Shuman